MONTREAL (AP) — Scottie Scheffler finished with two birdie putts for an American win, and Patrick Cantlay made two big birdies to assure another one Saturday in the Presidents Cup as the United States, fresh off being shut out, bounced back for an 8-6 lead.
Still to come on a day when play was delayed by thick fog at Royal Montreal were four matches of foursomes, with the International team desperate to not lose any more ground.
International captain Mike Weir sent out his same teams he used in fourballs, meaning four players — Jason Day, Min Woo Lee, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Byeong Hun An — sat out all of Saturday.
Tom Kim again was an emotional spark for the Internationals, teaming with Si Woo Kim for the lone fourballs win in the morning. They birdied the first two holes and never trailed in beating Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark, 4 and 3.
Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele never trailed in a 3-and-2 win over the Canadian duo of Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes.
The U.S. lead came down to the other two matches, both with key moments.
Collin Morikawa, playing with Scheffler, made a 40-foot birdie on No. 2. Adam Scott answered with a 4-iron to 3 feet for birdie on No. 3. They halved the next eight holes until the Americans took the lead with a birdie on the par-5 12th.
They looked to go 2 up on the 14th until a stunning turn of events. Taylor Pendrith drove into the water. Scott was 25 feet away after a poor wedge, while Morikawa stuffed his shot into 5 feet. Scott made birdie, Morikawa missed and the match was all square.
Pendrith looked to give the Internationals their first lead with an approach into 4 feet on the next hole. But he missed the birdie putt, and Scheffler took over from there. The world’s No. 1 player made an 8-foot birdie putt on the 16th for a 1-up lead, and Scheffler closed out the match with a 15-foot birdie putt from just short of the green.
In the anchor match, Sungjae Im three times matched birdies against Cantlay and Sam Burns to keep the match from getting out of hand. Cantlay chipped in for eagle on the 12th for a 2-up lead. And then Im and Hideki Matsuyama — mostly Im — tried to rally.
Im hit to 6 feet on the 15th, only for Cantlay to make from 25 feet. Im was in tight again on the 16th and Cantlay poured in his putt from 18 feet. Instead of the match being all square with two to play, the Americans were dormie and closed out the match when Matsuyama missed an 8-foot birdie attempt.
It already has been an unusual week, the first time in any professional cup — Ryder, Presidents or Solheim — that teams took turns pitching shutouts. The Americans opened 5-0 in fourballs, the Internationals responded with 5-0 in foursomes.
And then Saturday’s morning session was halted 90 minutes by fog so thick players could not see the landing zone in the fairway. The sun finally broke through, and the afternoon was a race against time to finish before Sunday singles.
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